admin Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has said that he sees Sofyan Amrabat as a player capable of playing in a variety of positions.
The 27-year-old completed a loan move to Old Trafford from Fiorentina on transfer deadline day, but will miss his debut against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday due to injury.
Ten Hag calls Amrabat a “typical midfielder”, but the head coach also claims that the final-day arrival could play alongside Casemiro, the further forward, and also as a winger and fullback.
“What we lack in our team is Casemiro, someone else – a typical midfielder,” Ten Hag told reporters about the Morocco international.
“So we have him [Casemiro] and you see the overload in games. We need a type [like that], but also Amrabat can play alongside Casemiro.
“He is also capable of playing in a higher position on the pitch and even he can play as a wing-back or a full-back.”
Amrabat is yet to feature this season as he was unused by Fiorentina at the start of the campaign due to speculation surrounding his future.
Meanwhile, he was forced to withdraw from the Morocco squad during the international break due to injury, which also prevented him from featuring against Brighton.
Amrabat, who played under Ten Hag at FC Utrecht earlier in his career, is only on loan at Man United but the club will have the option to make the deal permanent in next summer’s transfer window.
The Red Devils will be aiming to bounce back from their loss to Arsenal before the international break when they welcome Brighton to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon, but Ten Hag is under no illusions when it comes to the size of the task against a “very good side”.
“It’s a very good side but I love to play against them. And, last year, we had two incredible, good matches. One we won, in a semi-final against them at Wembley,” said the manager.
“One, we lose in the last dying seconds of the game. So it’s really head to head. We know we have to be good, so we have to do and put in everything to get the right result.”
Man United will then switch their attention to the Champions League, with the team heading to Germany next week for their group-stage opener against Bayern Munich.
